08-09 Winter Newsletter.indd - Buffalo State College Athletics

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BOYES BACK TO GRIDIRON
Legendary Football Coach Jerry Boyes to Return to Sidelines...
After eight seasons in the main offi ce, one of Buffalo
State’s most successful all-time coaches will make his
return to the sidelines in 2009.
Longtime football coach Jerry Boyes will once again serve
as the head coach of the Bengals’ football program, as
well as continue in his role as director of athletics.
Upon coming to Buffalo State in 1986, Boyes inherited a
football program that was entering just its sixth season
of varsity competition but transformed the Bengals into
one of the premier Division III football programs in the
Northeast. In 15 seasons, he compiled an 89-62 overall
record (.589 winning percentage), qualifi ed for the NCAA
postseason seven seasons, and won three ECAC Bowl
Championships. In addition to being a three-time ECAC
Upstate Coach of the Year, Boyes claimed CNN Division
III Coach of the Year honors in 1995. He also recruited
and mentored 12 All-Americans and four Academic All-
Americans during his illustrious coaching career.
excited that he will again pursue his passion for coaching,”
said Hal Payne, Vice President for Student Affairs. “In
turning to Coach Boyes, we seek to build on Paul’s work
and improve our record on the fi eld.”
“Coach Shaffner has accomplished a great deal in his
career at Buffalo State College,” Boyes said. “I have
witnessed a positive change in the approach and attitude
in both players and coaches involved with the football
program. The team has begun to exhibit the discipline and
unity necessary to achieve success.”
Boyes will replace Paul Shaffner, who amassed a record
of 13-36 in fi ve seasons since assuming control of the
program in 2004, including posting a 1-9 record in 2008.
“Jerry’s football resume speaks for itself and we are
Coyer Field was returned to the College on Monday, Aug. 4, after construction was completed on a project totaling more than $1 million.
The project began in April, converting the fi eld that originally opened as a natural grass facility in the 1960s, into a state-of-the-art
playing surface by today’s standards. The venue that serves as the home fi eld for the Bengals’ football, men’s and women’s soccer and
women’s lacrosse teams now boasts an artifi cial A-Turf surface that will stand up to the volume of play and inclement weather in the
region. The project also included a new fence around the perimeter of the complex.
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BEYOND THE FIELD
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Corner...
The fall semester was a busy one for the Buffalo State Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee (SAAC). After kicking off the year with the annual Student-Athlete
“Welcome Back” in late August, SAAC quickly got to work planning its initiatives
for the semester. The following are some of the highlights:
• Several Buffalo State teams have partnered with Campus West Elementary
School in the “Adopt a Classroom” program where student-athletes run reading
programs and help in the classroom by serving as role models. In addition, they
teach healthy lifestyle choices and reinforce the importance of staying in school.
• Kicked off the annual Bengals-Supporting-Bengals program to help cheer on
fellow student-athletes during home competitions by creating a “Sea of Orange”
in the stands. During the fi rst semester, BSB events were held for Men’s and
Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Football, Cheerleading, Men’s and Women’s Cross
Country, Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving and Men’s and Women’s
Hockey.
Athletics Director Jerry Boyes addresses a “Sea
of Orange” at the Student-Athlete Welcome Back
• Held the annual Student-Athlete Winter Formal on Dec. 5 at the Fireside
Lounge in the Student Union. Student-athletes enjoyed a night of “grooving,
food and fun” in a theme of “Black and Orange” as a break from preparing for
fi nals.
• Three student-athletes attended the NCAA’s Division III Regional Leadership
Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. Shilah Richardson (M. Track & Field), Jen
Tierney (Lacrosse) and Katelyn Grew (Volleyball) represented Buffalo State,
along with women’s volleyball head coach Jen Breier.
The softball team donned costumes and
volunteered at the Kenmore Halloween Festival,
sponsored by the Farmer’s Market.
‘Bengal Magazine’ Partners With COM Department and Time Warner...
Now in its third season, Bengal Magazine, hosted by Tom Koller and co-produced by Jeff Ventura, has expanded its
production and visibiltity. The show, which tapes every two weeks in the television studios in Bulger Communication
Center, began a collaboration this fall with COM 388 (Broadcast Practicum), taught by Paul DeWald, which enables
students to get hands on experience
shooting b-roll, editing short features,
and taping the show in the studio. The
students also get a chance to learn
from the outstanding professional
staff in Instructional Resources of Pat
Trinkley, Ken Giangreco, Dave Ross
and Paul Smith.
Bengal Magazine has also begun
reaching a broader audience. In
addition to streaming online at
www.buffalostateathletics.com, the
show is also airing on Time Warner
SportsNet (Cable 13). The 30-minute
show is on Thursday and Friday at
7:30 p.m. and plays along side similar
shows from the University at Buffalo
and Syracuse University.
Students from COM 388 pose on the set
of Bengal Magazine with the Instructional
Resources staff and host Tom Koller
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LATOYA D. EDWARDS
Edwards Eyes First Female
National Championship...
By Tom Koller
Associate Athletics Director, External Affairs
Just the thought of it happening gives Latoya
Edwards reason to pause.
“That,” she says with a blank stare,
“would be awesome. I can’t believe it’s really
that close.”
In its long and storied athletic history,
Buffalo State College has produced eight
individual national champions. All men.
Never has the school been home to a
female national champion.
If Latoya Edwards and Eugene
Lewis have their way, that will all change
soon.
“I tell her every day, and I know
she gets tired of it, about becoming
a national champion,” says Lewis, in
his eighth year as head coach of the
Bengals’ track and fi eld programs. “It’s
really not a question of could she, but will
she.”
In fact, not only does Edwards
have an opportunity to become a national
champion, she also has an opportunity at
another Buffalo State “fi rst” by becoming its
fi rst female student-athlete to be named a
four-time All-American.
For Edwards, the realization of
accomplishing what no other female has at
Buffalo State would be the culmination of an
eight year journey that, ironically, has its roots
on basketball courts in New York City.
She claims she’s still “not sure how
good I was at basketball” as a seventh grader,
but “I was fast. I was always the fi rst kid down
the court.” That’s when her science teacher,
Warrick King, told her that she should try track.
King did some leg work of his own,
obtained an application, had Edwards fi ll out
and then submitted it so the kid “with big calves”
could run in her fi rst-ever track meet at the Pratt
Institute. Good idea. Bad result.
She came. She ran. She left. She forgot about
track.
“I did it because he went through so much
trouble to get me there and see me run,” she explains.
“When I got there I thought ‘what am I doing here.”
Two years later, at another basketball court, this
one at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, Edwards
decided that hoops, at least with this particular team,
was not in her immediate plans.
“I wanted to play basketball, but the team was
awful,” she remembers. “I mean, they were bad. I
thought, ‘oh no, I’m not doing this.’ But I knew I wanted
to be in athletics, so I joined the track team.”
Basketball’s loss was track’s gain.
When Edwards ran, people took notice.
The underclassmen were in awe. The
upperclassmen were jealous. And Hollie
Denny-Bishop, her high school coach,
mentor and friend was impressed.
“I remember when I fi rst saw
Latoya I thought she had the
potential to be a real asset to
the team. She looked strong, but
needed toning and training in order
to sustain her races.”
Bishop got to work. She
immediately had Edwards
concentrate on the sprints. Indeed,
it was Bishop, says Edwards, who
was “the fi rst one who taught me
instead of telling me. There’s a big
difference.”
“As a coach, I worked with
Latoya on a number of areas:
commitment, focus, form, endurance
and strategy,” recalls Bishop.
Edwards blossomed. By the time
she was a junior, she “started fi guring
out what I really wanted to do in track
and how I was going to get there. It just
seemed to click in and I took off.”
Did she ever. She graduated from Clara
Barton with a handful of school records, was
the Brooklyn Borough Champion in the 100-
and 200-meter dashes and took second in the
hotly-contested New York City Public Schools
Athletic League Championships in the 300-meter
dash.
And during her run to glory, there was Lewis, a
very interested spectator.
“The fi rst time I saw Latoya was on television
competing in the prestigious Millrose Games at Madison
Square Garden,” he remembers. “I knew right away that
she would have a huge impact at the Division III level.”
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LATOYA D. EDWARDS
The recruiting war was on and Edwards was
torn. On one hand, Bishop, a former track athlete at
the University of Texas, was suggesting her pupil attend
Division I Albany. On the other hand, Edwards was taken
by the commitment shown to her by Lewis.
“He was the only coach, the only one, to come
see me at my school,” she remembers. “Other coaches
saw me at the meets, but Coach Lewis was the only one
to visit my school and sit down with my counselor.”
“Latoya had many options,” remembers Bishop.
“Albany and Buffalo State were among the best choices.
The academic program was our major concern which
made Buffalo State a favorite choice (Health and
Wellness) for Latoya, offering small class settings. And
the coach visiting and presenting a package was very
big in the decision process.”
Latoya, welcome to
Western New York.
Edwards terms her
freshman year at Buffalo
State as “average.” If so,
Lewis would love to have
more “average” years from
freshmen like the one
Edwards enjoyed. She was
SUNYAC indoor champion
in the 55- and 200-meter
dashes. She went one
step further in the outdoor
season, winning the
SUNYAC Championship
in the 100- and 200-meter
dashes as well as the 4 x 100 relay. In both seasons she
earned berths in the NCAA Division III Track and Field
Championships.
This is average?
“I was not surprised at all,” claims Lewis, adding
that “being a SUNYAC champion for her was a stepping
stone to the ultimate goal – becoming a national
champion.”
Ironically, it was her inability to qualify for the
fi nals in the 55 at the nationals that not only “devastated”
Edwards, but served as a motivator for both her and
Lewis.
“We expected to fi nish with All-America honors,”
recalls Lewis. “The goal was diffi cult for a freshman but
realistic. The bar was set and there was no turning back.
That experience was the fi rst brick in a potential Hall of
Fame career.
“Latoya’s freshman experience was very
nurturing. She was a sponge not only for the sport
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but just in general. We spent several hours talking
about school, goals and life. Those moments were
instrumental in the continued growth in our relationship.
She was not only a student-athlete, she became family.
Our relationship from day one is what drives us to do
something special.”
With the “average” season behind her, Edwards
focused on that “something special” her sophomore
seasons. Mission accomplished. She was SUNYAC
champion in the 55, 200 and 4 x 400 relay and was
named the SUNYAC Indoor Runner of the Year. She
was later named All-America by taking third at the
NCAA’s in the 55 in 7.12.
And she wasn’t fi nished. During the outdoor
season, Edwards was crowned SUNYAC champion in
the 100 and, later at the NCAAs, was an All-America by
taking fourth in the 200 and
fi fth in the 4 x 100.
“After her freshman year
we knew she had the ability
to be an All-American from
an athletic perspective,” says
Lewis. “I began the process of
adding additional goals, goals
that, due to her personality,
she would not be able to
turn down, like never losing
a conference championship
race, becoming an Academic
All-American and winning a
team championship.”
In just two years at
Buffalo State, Edwards has become in her coach’s
opinion and, it seems safe to assume, of many across
the state, “the most dominant female sprinter in New
York State.”
She enters her junior indoor season prepared
to sail through some uncharted waters by becoming
Buffalo State’s first 4-time female All-American and its
fi rst female national champion in any sport.
The thought never escaped Lewis when he
fi rst recruited Edwards. Three years later, coach and
pupil continue the process, continue to work the plan,
continue the march toward history.
“The fi rst goal in this experience was to win a
national championship,” says Lewis. “There was never
any build up. When she was recruited that was the goal.
We both knew it would be a process and we are working
toward accomplishing the goal of becoming a national
champion.”
Latoya Edwards pauses, thinks, smiles.
“Wow, that would be amazing.”
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ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
Buffalo State inducted five new members into its Athletics
Hall of Fame to culminate Homecoming Weekend on Sept. 20
Do you know a candidate for
consideration for the
Hall of Fame
Class of 2009?
Visit www.buffalostateathletics.com and
click on “Hall of Fame” to download and
print a nomination form. Fill it out and
send it in by May 1.
6 www.buffalostateathletics.com
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FALL SEMESTER RECAP
FOOTBALL
Placed four players on the All-NJAC
team, including first teamers Greg
Meyer and Scott Forster. Meyer
had set new school career records
for receptions (166) and receiving
touchdowns
(27)...Matt
Pacana was
selected to
the second
team, and Jake
Button was
voted honorable
mention...
Greg Meyer
MEN’S SOCCER
Went 11-7-1 overall, but fi nished 4-5-1
and placed seventh in the SUNYAC...
Zack Eastman was named the team’s
MVP and
was voted
second team
All-SUNYAC...
Stephen
Galante was
named third
team All-
SUNYAC...
Zack Eastman
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Improved by four wins over the previous
season under first-year head coach Jen
Breier, winning
11 matches...
Freshman
Katie Sember
and junior
Katelyn Grew
were each
named All-
SUNYAC West
second team...
Katie Sember
CROSS COUNTRY
Men placed eighth of 10 at SUNYAC
Championships, and the women were
ninth of 10...Margaret Hughes was
the top Bengal fi nisher in every meet...
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Went 9-7-2 overall, but was seventh
in the SUNYAC at 4-4-2 in league
play... Barb Kiliszek had 10 goals and
was named fi rst team All-SUNYAC...
Meghan Jarrell
and Kelly
Reuter were
named second
team, and
Mindy Wendt
was third
team...
Barb Kiliszek
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Off to a 0-6 start, after hosting the Coles
Classic, playing a pair of SUNYAC road
games, and traveling to Atlanta, Ga. for
the Oglethorpe University Tournament...
Jamar Gray
leads the team,
averaging 15.0
points-pergame...Will
host
the Holiday Inn
Invitational on
Jan. 2 and 3...
Jamar Gray
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Started the season 1-7 with a win
over Keuka during the Betty Abgott
Invitational...Barb Kiliszek leads the
Bengals, averaging 12.1 points-pergame
and has a team-best 32 assists
and 35 steals...Shareese Hamer is
averaging 10.1 points and a team-high
9.8 reboundsper-contest...
The Bengals
will travel
to the York
(Pa.) College
Coaches
vs. Cancer
Tournament on
Jan. 3 and 4...
Shareese Hamer
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Started the season 1-6-4 overall
and 1-3-4 in ECAC West play and
currently occupies the sixth and
fi nal playoff position...Already set a
school record for ties in a season...
Sophomore Marissa McMullan lead
the team with fi ve goals and seven
points...Alyssa
Koniar has a
2.21 GAA and
a .921 save
percentage...
Will next host
Hamilton on
Jan. 13...
Marissa McMullan
MEN’S HOCKEY
Off to 4-8-1 start and 3-4-1 SUNYAC
mark with league wins over Cortland,
Potsdam and Morrisville...Sophomore
Nicholas Petriello and senior Jason
Hill lead the team with 20 points
each...Petriello
has a teambest
seven
goals...The
Bengals will
return to the
ice Jan. 9 and
10 at Lebanon
Valley...
Jason Hill
SWIMMING & DIVING
The women have started the season
1-5 with a win over Pitt-Bradford....
Freshman Kelly Young has emerged
as a strong diver, being named
SUNYAC Diver
of the Week...
The men’s
team is 1-3-1
also beating
Pitt-Bradford...
Will travel to
Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla. the fi rst
week of Jan...
Kelly Young
Orange & Black was written and created by Sports Information Director Jeff Ventura. Printing by Partners’ Press (716) 876-2288.
Action photos by Steve DeMeo - Team HotShots - Team19@aol.com.
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NEWS/UPCOMING EVENTS
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